[Image via Yaffa Cafe on Facebook]
There seems to be a lot going on now with Yaffa Cafe at 97 St. Mark's Place.
For starters, the DOH temporarily closed the 32-year-old restaurant last Friday for a variety of violations, including "Hot food item not held at or above 140F" and "Food Protection Certificate not held by supervisor of food operations." (There were 100 violation points in total.)
Meanwhile, the familiar Yaffa Cafe mural was covered yesterday by a Google ad.
A tweet for Yaffa offered this...
Hi everyone. Yes, we are officially closed but don't worry, we will be back! And so will our mural. We are starting renovations. #3Months
— Yaffa Cafe (@YaffaCafe) September 11, 2014So the restaurant (and mural) will return — likely after a 3-month renovation.
However, when Yaffa does reopen, it will likely be without its charming garden dining space.
The city handed down a vacate order on the backyard dining space...
[Photo by Allen Semanco]
Why now for the garden to go? We don't know... what we do know is that there isn't any negotiation on this.
More TK.
It says on this form that the backyard space was illegally converted into a dining area and notes there isn't a secondary form of egress--in other words, if there was a fire, people would have to stream back through the restaurant to try to get out. Yaffa got singled out here, but there are a lot of outdoor spaces in the East Village from which it would be hard to move a lot of people out of quickly in the event of a fire. I am surprised these places get away with it.
ReplyDelete"don't worry well be back" umm 100 point health violation...not sure anyone is holding their breathe on your return
ReplyDeletefcking gross. people should be forced to sell, theyll clean up, and 3 months theyll be back to their old dirty cooking habits
Fashion by He: Sure - "people should be *forced* to sell." That'd be great - then we could have nothing but entire blocks with just Subways or McDonald's or Duane Reade's. What planet are you living on?
ReplyDeleteI know you can dinged for a lot of stupid stuff on those inspections, but rats, rats bother me.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see them compensate for the lack of backyard space with some exciting new menu offerings available in a hoof.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't like rats, best to stay out of the East Village. The rats wre well ensconced in the ancient sewers and always will be.
ReplyDeleteMost likely, this was just an attack paid for by unscrupulous landlords to force out the old and iconic businesses.
Reviews that talk about the shutdown being a good thing are usually astroturf from real estate interests trying to win public support.
my new york is gone and it breaks my heart
ReplyDeleteI have eaten many meals in this place over the past 20 something years. Too bad this late night hang is closed down. Good cheap eats and late night drinking and dining - what could be better? Unfortunately on my visits there in the past year, the manager has changed the menu and the quality and preparation of the food has been very uneven. Is it a bargain if you can't eat it? Hope the manager can simplify the menu and reopen. The serving staff is normally gracious but seems to be constantly on edge. Hey manager - get it together. People love this place, but they will not eat swill.
ReplyDeleteAffair will always be special. I had my first date in New York there in 1987.
ReplyDeleteSign o' the times. Can't blame them for renting that space while they're on hiatus 'renovating' the place. Blame the new EVers, the new neighbors, for shutting down the backspace; they were complaining on how noisy the customers get at night. This is a perfect example of them moving into a neighborhood because of the nightlife scene, a block saturated with bars, and then they complain about the noise. As for the 'renovation', we all know what that means. Another artisanal kale, quinoa, and ramps place with curated cocktails for those with SIoS. Next-up would be the Yaffalafelery.
ReplyDelete#SIoS
So sadly true
DeleteGood for them. I remember back in the 90s when I ate their regularly, I found out that the babaganoush had mayo in it. I was so pissed that I wanted to do a Scareface ending on the joint. On top of that. the waitress had a super nasty attitude to boot.
ReplyDeleteI curse this place and hope it never opens again. Scum buckets!
Man oh man...I hope the closure isn't permanent. Yaffa is a special place. It may not be perfect...but neither is life in NY. But it is one-of-a-kind and I know a lot of people would be sad to see it go.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love Yaffa! Did so when I was a newbie in the EV and a frugalista, and love it still now that I can afford to eat "upscale". It's about the authentic East Village experience!
ReplyDeletemy ex girlfriend 15 yrs ago would keep matches from yaffa in an ashtray of a little end table… a memento of our new york trip - something she thought was cool and a place she loved to stop at any time we came. when i moved here it was an easy choice because anyone could eat regardless of their dietary restriction and it was open all night. later my tastes changed.now with two kids and a crew that couldn't make a decision we ended up going there again ( the evening when the DOH came in , actually). i don't really like to go there but i didn't want to seem snobby and was fine with it.the food honestly sucks aside from being tepid . you can be vegan and an omnivore: that has become its salient feature …again the hours too. here's the thing:
ReplyDeletethe neighborhood is changing. i get it if you are a business that has been here forever and then when its time to renew your lease you can't pay the new amounts and are forced to leave. however, you can't really blame gentrification or " the man " or duane reade when its not about your lease and you are just too damn cheap to pay your only non revolving door staff to take the DOH course and compensate them even for the training hours to effectively pass.if you've been at this for 30 years, even fucking off for half that time would still give you a chance to figure things out and get your shit together. its nice to have an A on your window…then again, nobody is giving me a trophy for not burning my house down or beating my wife. 100 points in violations? deplorable .google has already put an add on the mural out front : that is yaffa's damn fault. if you can't pay to avoid these things after that long - you are the petit bourgeois asshole driving the audi ( or whatever ) and its no wonder every starry eyed "actor " is hired wednesday and leaves by friday. life cafe was not much different: fake post beatnik owners doing their dumb chalkboard riddle art and sipping white wine at noon acting like "artists" while their shit goes to hell. i blame the owners. they are the ones to blame when these bank rolled millennials pave the roads w gold, white tile, reclaimed wood, edison bulbs, and taxidermy…skaters that don't skate…fake nico chicks … manicured 5 o'clock shadows …pinky ring…a lexus worth of attack of the clones birds and hearts and stars from their day at the tattoo spa.